Heavy Rain cost €16.7 million to make and made Sony "more than €100 million"
Eurogamer: Quantic Dream's Guillaume de Fondaumiere revealed to a Digital Dragons audience in Poland today that PlayStation 3 exclusive Heavy Rain cost just €16.7 million to make - even with all those emotional polygons stuffed in.
(Heavy Rain , PS3)
It is definitely an incentive for devs to take risks, and we see it with Beyond Two Souls. Another stunning looking game, and I'm sure it will do well.
Yea bro this is a classic game, the music the story, the options.,..my my my the options...Its damn near perfect. Hurry and play this game so you can say the same.
Its one of the better games of this generation for sure. A must play if you enjoy a good story plus you can do multiple playthroughs, since there are multiple endings and at least some characters can die off based on the choices made. But yeah I wont say it is a classic though as the guy above me put it.
I'm not sure I understood your comment. The actress who did Clementine's voice is around 36 or 37 I believe, and she was quite good.
It's certainly possible to get good voice acting performances out of children. Miyazaki, Takahata, and others from Studio Ghibli seem to manage it consistently.
Play it! You can get the game relatively cheap. There are plenty of choices that change the ending drastically. Anyone can play and enjoy it. Both my girlfriend (who never plays games) and I played through our own campaigns, and it was a blast just talking about how different our endings were. Truly a unique experience and well worth the purchase. You're missing out on a true gem.
"xbox fans will say it sells less than halo but why would sony care after this? "
Yeah they say that since the games only sell like 1-2 million they are worthless. I don't know what to say to that really. It just makes me feel sorry for said fans.
The best thing is when xfans say that MS gives them the usual 3 games and since they all sell well that must be the thing that people want. The worst cases even call Sony stupid to fund so many games that "noone cares about" since you know 2 million people is like noone.....yeah...
What does Xbox fans have to do with this topic? Nothing. Like the others have mentioned, get a life. You contribute nothing to the community other than your resentment Microsoft has eaten into Sony's once dominated market.
Heavy Rain has shown risks can pay off. That is the focus here. Not your childish antics of always trying to drag the competition into everything. The moderators need to get rid of people instead of just letting them fester at 1 bubble. At that point the community has basically shunned you and now you're essentially talking to yourself because you can't even have a discussion when you're only able to say one thing.
So Much Respect for The Brave and the Bold. The greater the risk the greater the reward.
No wonder Sony has backed up Quanticdream's ambitions because they both have the balls to make new and different types of games. Ever so daring, they are always at the front line of the cutting edge.
They know what they are doing for very niche games to get done and earn good business at the same time.
Unlike the the other two who refuse change and settle for more of the same.
I'm really surprised. It's a great (& mature) game that deals with difficult & challenging themes. Also the gameplay style is not to everyone's taste. But I'm really pleased that HR has been so successful. I look forward to their next release....
damn everyone down below must have chapped lips. It's a good ride but hardly inovative. it's indigo prophecy but done better. If you wanna see an innovative game from QD get omikron fron GOG.com.
Vigil is now part of Crytek :( Is have loved for Vigil to be part of Sony. They have talent that needed nurturing, they were rough around the edges. Both DarkSiders was great but lack a level of polish that would have resulted in the game having true greatness.
Why buy them. They have stated they don't have any plans to make any games for anybody other than Sony. Buying them would just be a huge waste of money.
No it wouldn't. Buying them would give them job security and would cement that NO OTHER platform but Sony platforms would benefit having games like this and further cement that PS platform is unique.
If they stay independent and continue to do what they want to do that's fine. But if they were to get sucked up by some other company then it's unlikely they would have the same freedom as they would as part of Sony.
Focus groups don't make a better game, they make a more generic game.
"Today we are seeing a crisis," he added, "we are seeing a market that is in decline." Yes, the global economic crisis is to blame, but "there is a certain creative crisis that is, in part, the reason why some gamers are playing less".
"We can only resolve that by offering new creations, new IP [and] also wooing a new audience to games."
He gets it.We need more innovation ideas and less Rambo shooting.
damn, right son. I love studios that make new and interesting IP's more than anything. Q-games, thatgamecompany, and team ico are some of my favorites.
I wasnt saying they are the only innovative devs i like, just that they are among my favorites. I love suckerpunch, media molecule, insomniac, and Incognito as well. I own many of the games you guys are mentioning.
But you know what really gets me? the mentality some of these fanboys have in regards to Sony's investments. They seem to be under the blind impression that Sony doesnt make money of these games they fund and make because others are making money in other ways.
MS makes most of their money from marketing and xbox live, Nintendo from its handhelds and its inhouse ips, Sony from their exclusives and services.
I think this proves their strategy works and people on here need to stop downplaying what defines a console, exclusive content. What Sony doesnt make in amonths time they make down the road and the investment is still a well made one.
With this philosophy in mind, you can count on the PlayStation 4 being another house hold name for more exclusive content, devided in sequels and ofcourse new ips.
As PlayStation gamers we don't want or need timed dlc, or time exclusive rights to someone else's ip, we want full rights and control to our own ips.
do you have any proof to back your claims about how the platform holders make their money? also, nintendos inhouse i.ps are exclusives just like sonys. heavy rain being an exception since sony dont own he studio.
quite honestly i caan get my head round what you are trying to say...
"we want full rights and control to our own ips" i have owned sony consoles since 95, and have never been part of the decision process that goes on at sony regarding their games!
Wouldn't be that hard to craft up a sequal. I mean Hollywood can do it. Maybe the oragami killer has a copy cat who knows. Alls I know it is a great game that came out and it wowed me. And I know it was a tech video but I still say Quantic Dream should turn Kara into an actual game. I felt the emotions she was portraying when they were thinking about scrapping her on the assembly line. One thing Quantic Dream can do is make a person relate with their characters they are playing and pushing boundries with games and their games look great.
Good job Sony & QD. And Capcom, you should learn this. It's no use if you produced a game like RE 6 with 600 staff but had poor quality, made your fans hated you, and importantly: not profitable.
This article should be for all the pseudo financial analysts that claim that Sony exclusives don't sell or make money for them lol Just stfu and stick to another job.
Why do you think Sony invests in so many new ips? If they dont make them money? do ppl really think they would invest in them so often as they do? For every Starhawk or whatever other exclusive that doesnt make them money they have the LBPs, Uncharteds, Infamous, Gran Turismo, Journey, Heavy Rain, etc... that makes them a good amount of money through initial sales and dlc. LBP right now is a dlc monster and tons of ppl pay that 1.99 to 5.00 for costume sets lol Sony exclusives do Sony more good than bad.
By the way Heavy Rain was an awesome exp. and cant wait for Beyond!
Its a Darn Shame Both Starhawk and PSASBR didnt Break even. Those games need more marketing! Still I agree, If 2 million sold with a £16 Million budget and a £24 million marketing budget made Sony £100 million then its safe to say exclusives like Uncharted, God of War, GT, Ratchet, Resistance, LPB and Killzone all made Sony bucket loads. All those games have sold more than 2 million per iteration with Uncharted and GT being the top bread winners this gen followed closely by LBP, Motorstorm and God of War. I'm glad the investments are coming. I just hope the marketing budget increases this gen and Sony has even bigger successes with their franchises.
maybe that's why their games that sell two million can be such huge successes. If they spend 50 million on advertising they need to sell alot more copies to break even. You shouldnt gauge success by how many copies were sold. They achieved want they wanted too, made enough money to give confidence in the next game, and everyones happy, most importantly the fans.
If they only made games that were trying to be 10 million sellers creativity would suffer and everything would just be aiming to topple call of duty. There's enough of that in the industry already. Stay the course Sony, indeed great games, not great flash ad campaigns
When did it become greedy to want the product you sell be paid for so you can fund other games. They deserve to make a profit from any copy's that are sold.
I totally agree, which is why i dont buy used games. If they are interesting but I can't afford them at launch, I get them when they reach the Platinum hits or further discount. Luckily... I bought Heavy Rain at launch and will be on Beyond:2S Day Zero.
But they did get paid for it. I'm all about buying new games to support developers. most of my games I have are day 1 purchases. Although there are games I would rather buy used if I'm unsure of liking it. Less of a risk of spending money.
the game cost $21,843,599.83 so yeah the industry Bigwigs bitch OH Making games is too Expensive. CUT THE BULLSHIT, enough with your FPS Oversaturation and Annoying ass COD games coming out yearly. SONY made $13079999.90 this is what comes out translated when you convert the Euro to U.S. Dollar.
Hold on a second. In the second paragraph of the article; it said it cost 40 million Euros altogether, including marketing and packaging etc. Converted to dollars; that would be $52,202,283.85.
And the risk more than paid off good job QD/Sony, I remember when the game was about to release people where already calling it a 'flop' especially in Neogaf
Why? David Cage IMO is the anti- Molyneux or anti- Bleszinski.
Yes he is outspoken but he desnt talk crap (Cliff) or under-deliver (Peter)
I say Sony keeps them going and helps them fund whatever else they want to continue making, maybe even make them a 1st party.
This story itself proves that games don need to sell bazillions of copies (especially in its first 24 hours) to break even or even turn a profit. Other devs and publishers should take note.
"Yes he is outspoken but he desnt talk crap (Cliff) or under-deliver (Peter)"
I'm not so sure I can agree with that.
In regards to under-delivering, I've honestly never seen him as this "video game auteur" so many on here are convinced of seeing him. Make no mistake, I still have ample respect for the great games I've played by him (Indigo and Heavy), but the only reason I don't slam either of them as hard for stumbling into stupidity after the middle portion of the story is coming to a close is because...they are game stories. I still love the aesthetic, music, Shemnue-like gameplay, and all that but I honestly believe he slightly under-delivers (not to Moly's level though).
As for talking crap, I hate how he constantly goes on and on about needing greater technology for the emotion he NEEDS to capture. In fact, he's made the term "emotional" become an empty term through overuse.
Edit: This doesn't mean I want him gone. Just pointing out what we have to put up with before getting his next project (which I'm excited for).
au·teur [oh-tu . a filmmaker whose individual style and complete control over all elements of production give a film its personal and unique stamp.
The very definition of David Cage.
As for the technology side, he's right. His games are very drama driven and better tech allows more subtlety in the performance. Now days you can see what the character is thinking just by the wrinkle of their brow or a curl of the lip. That wasn't possible in previous generations and this is where David wants to develope his craft. Its no different than an actors performance in a film. If its poorly acted the scene falls flat and its just not believable. So they may make many many takes. That's the sort of level Cage is trying to acheive
@Bathyj Fair enough. Replace 'auteur' with 'virtuoso' and you see my point.
"As for the technology side, he's right. His games are very drama driven and better tech allows more subtlety in the performance."
Why should the focus on subtlety be founded on the technology of catching a wrinkle rather than the writing? Regardless of how well you find Ellen Page's performance, it'll do nothing but slightly distract from the dialogue and plot surrounding the game.
If dozens of 2D titles not pursuing the greatest technical advancements can produce greater "emotion" by more important pursuits, then why should I be convinced that the continued advancement to CGI-quality will make all the difference?
we need more adult theme games.not all gamers are the same age or have the same taste.heavy rain was one of the best games this generation.just because it was sony it didn't get the love and sales like cod.beyond is going to be great.how does the saying go's day one buy for me.
Well good then. The reason why Squeenix, Capcom, and EA can't make their money back is because of bloated dev costs.
They should take note of games like this. AAA titles that don't cost an arm and a leg to develop, and therefore don't need to sell 5 million units to make a solid profit.
16 mil to make plus adding advertising and distribution it adds up to 40 million Euros. That's a crap load of money for a single game that's a new IP and unique.
"With Sony's marketing and distribution on top, the total spend looked something like €40 million."
It cost quite a bit oh and in case you all are thinking I am attacking the game, I'm not, its just that 16 million is not accurate for the entire costs.
All I said is that the total costs is not 16 mil but 40 mil from this exact same article. LMAO this site really is getting ridiculous with over eager fanboys misreading and ignoring simple statements.
I bet if I said that Heavy rain is one of the best games I've ever played or that it was so good that I pushed to get my first platinum trophy from it, or I bought it day 1 that there would be a different reaction from people. But none of that is relevant now is it?
"LMAO this site really is getting ridiculous with over eager fanboys misreading and ignoring simple statements."
I must admit: I'm rather shocked to see the plain budget facts you pointed out would get those sorts of irrational replies. I suppose even the idea of someone making this 'less' of a success story (though still a rousing success story, nonetheless) will bring the angriest of fans.
Come on DLCs are lame! thats the reason why game developers and companies get away with money and making microtransactions a standard. If the game is complete and long enough then its a good game. unlike some company *cough EA bioware *cough selling us mass effect and dragon age then coming up with 4 and more DLCs single player storyline. So I guess they should be already in the game? its kind of a ripoff playing a game knowing its not the 100% complete version without the DLCs. you payed $60 full cash and then you get to pay another 10 dollars or so to experience the DLC. same with capcom. there are already characters on disc and they charge you for it.
so instead they put effort into something that is trying to sell a 50 dollar(at the time) peripheral instead...i dont see the logic. I would much rather buy 10 dollar dlc than a 50 dollar peripheral that offers me absolutely 0 new content
this amazing game is only 9.99 at Gamestop right now if your a Rewards member. The website lists it higher but theres an option for the 9.99 deal. Its for the Director's Cut.
Man this is one of those games that made me want to buy a PlayStation and yet here we are years later and I still haven't bought it. LOL everytime I go to the game store I end up buying something newer instead.
I would be most interested to see the real numbers more than anything else. A game that may have taken 5-6 years in development with a large team, facial capture, voice acting, scripting, DLC, PS Move support etc; it seems to be far too fantastic to be true.
Taking into account that the game and the marketing only cost 40 million euros, converting that to dollars would be $52,248,202,83 (fluctuating currency rates aside) selling the title at $60 each and dividing the total cost would equal out to 870,038 copies to break even.
Now that doesn't seem too terrible but something seems off about this whole "announcement". If what Quantic Dream is saying is true; they are buckling a trend that every mainstream video game developer has been on, due to rising costs, studio overhead etc. Maintaining a studio doesn't come cheap and I would like to know how many of those Heavy Rain copies were bundled with PS3s and how much Sony has subsidized Quantic Dream?
Its nice to see a developer speak honestly about how much a game cost to develop & how much profit is to be made.
I'm fed up of developers claiming it costs hundreds of millions & that there's very little profit to be made in the industry. I guarantee the 17 million they spent developing Heavy Rain is far more than over 90% of the other developers out there have ever spent on developing a game & Heavy Rain was never seen as a AAA title to the general public. So imagine how much a AAA would achieve.
The industry is absolutely full of bullshit, but this is one of the reasons I love David Cage, never any bullshit & a visionary!
This should really slap execs at SE and such in the face, the same way when Dark Souls sales numbers were recently posted. And HR's last official sales number were posted at 2+ million at GDC 2011, which makes me wonder WTH were SE pumping into the likes of Tomb Raider for sales anticipations to be so high?
Congrats to Sony/QD for knowing how to make reasonable investments.
Square Enix has been pumping disgusting arrogance and false and unrealistic hopes into its games, not to mention the Western developed ones.
Square has not made a GREAT game for the better part of a decade, sure it's had its lucky ones in KH:BBS, KH:3D; or even Theatrythm IMO, but that does not even come close to what they used to be capable of.
Tomb Raider, one of the better games Ive played in a few years definitely deserves all the sales it can get, but SE overshot their estimates and it makes them look ridiculous. Same goes for Deus Ex. I never thought we would get a worthy successor to that series but here we are after delivering a GREAT game, they put it down because it didnt sell a gazillion copies. WTF?
I'm glad it made money. It wasn't what I thought it would be when I played it. I ended up trading it in before I beat it, but I would give it another chance. Either way they got my money when I pre-ordered it lol.
If you think that was the worst game ever it's either because it's the only game you've ever played in your life or your taste in games is complete shit.
Favorite game: God of War Current console: None Worst game: Heavy Rain
I just don't give a crap about your butthurt console war games. I am a superior being that enjoys the games I enjoy ('cept for 360 games cuz they suck lel)
@Fatgamer: Nope. My taste is superior. I taste 30 tastes on a bad day. Do you even taste?
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story is cool though nice little addition to the collection
If you want something different from the typical shooter filled genre this has been, I highly recommend this game then. It's a great game.
It is definitely an incentive for devs to take risks, and we see it with Beyond Two Souls. Another stunning looking game, and I'm sure it will do well.
voice acting with kids is never usualy that good unfortunately xD
telltales the walking dead- Clementine :|
Except they'll usually be native to the language that they're speaking.
I'm not sure I understood your comment. The actress who did Clementine's voice is around 36 or 37 I believe, and she was quite good.
It's certainly possible to get good voice acting performances out of children. Miyazaki, Takahata, and others from Studio Ghibli seem to manage it consistently.
Wow great returns on this games.
Love that sony will fund non traditional games and not just another shooter.
Yeah they say that since the games only sell like 1-2 million they are worthless. I don't know what to say to that really. It just makes me feel sorry for said fans.
The best thing is when xfans say that MS gives them the usual 3 games and since they all sell well that must be the thing that people want. The worst cases even call Sony stupid to fund so many games that "noone cares about" since you know 2 million people is like noone.....yeah...
i never played this, but my gf really enjoyed it
Was just waiting for that fanboy comment,
Congrats on dragging MS Xbox and Halo into this......
Heavy Rain has shown risks can pay off. That is the focus here. Not your childish antics of always trying to drag the competition into everything. The moderators need to get rid of people instead of just letting them fester at 1 bubble. At that point the community has basically shunned you and now you're essentially talking to yourself because you can't even have a discussion when you're only able to say one thing.
BEYOUND! day one..
and if it comes for the PS4 i will ot mind waiting few months for it.
The greater the risk the greater the reward.
No wonder Sony has backed up Quanticdream's ambitions because they both have the balls to make new and different types of games.
Ever so daring, they are always at the front line of the cutting edge.
They know what they are doing for very niche games to get done and earn good business at the same time.
Unlike the the other two who refuse change and settle for more of the same.
PlayStation is gaming quality at its best.
....SHAUN???????? SHAUN! (dude never stops losing his kids)
I've played the demo and it was great but I cant find a copy of this game in any stores here!
This one is a keeper for sure must play a very underrated game of this gen
Alan wake
Heavy rain
Binary domain
Spec ops the line
4 very under rated games of this gen
I may also add yakuza series on ps3 on this list too
2.43m units sold (Vgchartz unless you got a better site)
at the very Most Publishers sell games to Retail Stores at $25 a game but for Heavy Rain I'll go $30
2,430,000 X $30 = $72,900,000
DLC was Digital So SOny gets every PENNY!
$4.99 X 2.43m (lets assume everyone who bought Heavy Rain bought the DLC) = $12,125,700
$72,900,000 + 12,125,700 = $85,025,700
$85,025,700 converted to Euros = €65,150,942.63
So where did the other €35m come from? Origami Rat Avatars?
Would be nice to get a numbers breakdown seeing how they are saying €100m
http://static.giantbomb.com...
then you're forgetting the platform royalty portion.
Level-5?
What games have they made are profitable? If you take away all nintendo and PS2 games they pretty useless =P
Ni no kuni.....surely that's turned a profit. Damn shame if it hasn't
We need a new Timesplitters.
Is have loved for Vigil to be part of Sony. They have talent that needed nurturing, they were rough around the edges. Both DarkSiders was great but lack a level of polish that would have resulted in the game having true greatness.
If they stay independent and continue to do what they want to do that's fine. But if they were to get sucked up by some other company then it's unlikely they would have the same freedom as they would as part of Sony.
Focus groups don't make a better game, they make a more generic game.
"We can only resolve that by offering new creations, new IP [and] also wooing a new audience to games."
He gets it.We need more innovation ideas and less Rambo shooting.
How can you add suckerpunch to that list???
Spyro, Ratchet & Clank, Resistence,
Incognito?
Twisted Metal, Warhawk (100% awesome).
I wasnt saying they are the only innovative devs i like, just that they are among my favorites. I love suckerpunch, media molecule, insomniac, and Incognito as well. I own many of the games you guys are mentioning.
Very well said. I couldn't agree more. Bubble for you:)
MS makes most of their money from marketing and xbox live, Nintendo from its handhelds and its inhouse ips, Sony from their exclusives and services.
I think this proves their strategy works and people on here need to stop downplaying what defines a console, exclusive content. What Sony doesnt make in amonths time they make down the road and the investment is still a well made one.
With this philosophy in mind, you can count on the PlayStation 4 being another house hold name for more exclusive content, devided in sequels and ofcourse new ips.
As PlayStation gamers we don't want or need timed dlc, or time exclusive rights to someone else's ip, we want full rights and control to our own ips.
quite honestly i caan get my head round what you are trying to say...
"we want full rights and control to our own ips" i have owned sony consoles since 95, and have never been part of the decision process that goes on at sony regarding their games!
Why do you think Sony invests in so many new ips? If they dont make them money? do ppl really think they would invest in them so often as they do? For every Starhawk or whatever other exclusive that doesnt make them money they have the LBPs, Uncharteds, Infamous, Gran Turismo, Journey, Heavy Rain, etc... that makes them a good amount of money through initial sales and dlc. LBP right now is a dlc monster and tons of ppl pay that 1.99 to 5.00 for costume sets lol Sony exclusives do Sony more good than bad.
By the way Heavy Rain was an awesome exp. and cant wait for Beyond!
Break even. Those games need more marketing! Still I agree, If 2 million sold with a £16 Million budget and a £24 million marketing budget made Sony £100 million then its safe to say exclusives like Uncharted, God of War, GT, Ratchet, Resistance, LPB and Killzone all made Sony bucket loads. All those games have sold more than 2 million per iteration with Uncharted and GT being the top bread winners this gen followed closely by LBP, Motorstorm and God of War. I'm glad the investments are coming. I just hope the marketing budget increases this gen and Sony has even bigger successes with their franchises.
Next Gen Uncharted and new GG Ip please!!
maybe that's why their games that sell two million can be such huge successes. If they spend 50 million on advertising they need to sell alot more copies to break even. You shouldnt gauge success by how many copies were sold. They achieved want they wanted too, made enough money to give confidence in the next game, and everyones happy, most importantly the fans.
If they only made games that were trying to be 10 million sellers creativity would suffer and everything would just be aiming to topple call of duty. There's enough of that in the industry already. Stay the course Sony, indeed great games, not great flash ad campaigns
None the less great game.
If they are interesting but I can't afford them at launch, I get them when they reach the Platinum hits or further discount. Luckily... I bought Heavy Rain at launch and will be on Beyond:2S Day Zero.
SUCK IT CRAPTIVISION.
i cant find it.
i dont know if its with marketing and PR
part 1 is like 22mln no info if it includes PR and marketing...
1$ is like ~3.2 PLN now.
Yes he is outspoken but he desnt talk crap (Cliff) or under-deliver (Peter)
I say Sony keeps them going and helps them fund whatever else they want to continue making, maybe even make them a 1st party.
This story itself proves that games don need to sell bazillions of copies (especially in its first 24 hours) to break even or even turn a profit. Other devs and publishers should take note.
I'm not so sure I can agree with that.
In regards to under-delivering, I've honestly never seen him as this "video game auteur" so many on here are convinced of seeing him. Make no mistake, I still have ample respect for the great games I've played by him (Indigo and Heavy), but the only reason I don't slam either of them as hard for stumbling into stupidity after the middle portion of the story is coming to a close is because...they are game stories. I still love the aesthetic, music, Shemnue-like gameplay, and all that but I honestly believe he slightly under-delivers (not to Moly's level though).
As for talking crap, I hate how he constantly goes on and on about needing greater technology for the emotion he NEEDS to capture. In fact, he's made the term "emotional" become an empty term through overuse.
Edit: This doesn't mean I want him gone. Just pointing out what we have to put up with before getting his next project (which I'm excited for).
. a filmmaker whose individual style and complete control over all elements of production give a film its personal and unique stamp.
The very definition of David Cage.
As for the technology side, he's right. His games are very drama driven and better tech allows more subtlety in the performance. Now days you can see what the character is thinking just by the wrinkle of their brow or a curl of the lip. That wasn't possible in previous generations and this is where David wants to develope his craft. Its no different than an actors performance in a film. If its poorly acted the scene falls flat and its just not believable. So they may make many many takes. That's the sort of level Cage is trying to acheive
Fair enough. Replace 'auteur' with 'virtuoso' and you see my point.
"As for the technology side, he's right. His games are very drama driven and better tech allows more subtlety in the performance."
Why should the focus on subtlety be founded on the technology of catching a wrinkle rather than the writing? Regardless of how well you find Ellen Page's performance, it'll do nothing but slightly distract from the dialogue and plot surrounding the game.
If dozens of 2D titles not pursuing the greatest technical advancements can produce greater "emotion" by more important pursuits, then why should I be convinced that the continued advancement to CGI-quality will make all the difference?
Well good then. The reason why Squeenix, Capcom, and EA can't make their money back is because of bloated dev costs.
They should take note of games like this. AAA titles that don't cost an arm and a leg to develop, and therefore don't need to sell 5 million units to make a solid profit.
In the case of EA and Activision, I'd be willing to bet three quarters of expenses for any of their games is in marketing.
EA spent nearly $50 million in marketing alone for Battlefield 3.
"With Sony's marketing and distribution on top, the total spend looked something like €40 million."
It cost quite a bit oh and in case you all are thinking I am attacking the game, I'm not, its just that 16 million is not accurate for the entire costs.
Tomb Raider: 3.4 million sales to not be a failure
RE6: 5.5 million
Dead Space 3: 5 million
Heavy Rain: highly profitable and beyond expectations at over 2 million copies sold
All I said is that the total costs is not 16 mil but 40 mil from this exact same article. LMAO this site really is getting ridiculous with over eager fanboys misreading and ignoring simple statements.
I bet if I said that Heavy rain is one of the best games I've ever played or that it was so good that I pushed to get my first platinum trophy from it, or I bought it day 1 that there would be a different reaction from people. But none of that is relevant now is it?
I must admit: I'm rather shocked to see the plain budget facts you pointed out would get those sorts of irrational replies. I suppose even the idea of someone making this 'less' of a success story (though still a rousing success story, nonetheless) will bring the angriest of fans.
The game came out in 2009, but I'm sure he knew this since he claimed the game will be GOTY in 2013.
So just reduced 10 years to mess with him, like how he's messing with us (2013).
2. Get drunk
3. Watch them play Heavy Rain with the move
Pretty dame hilarious
Taking into account that the game and the marketing only cost 40 million euros, converting that to dollars would be $52,248,202,83 (fluctuating currency rates aside) selling the title at $60 each and dividing the total cost would equal out to 870,038 copies to break even.
Now that doesn't seem too terrible but something seems off about this whole "announcement". If what Quantic Dream is saying is true; they are buckling a trend that every mainstream video game developer has been on, due to rising costs, studio overhead etc. Maintaining a studio doesn't come cheap and I would like to know how many of those Heavy Rain copies were bundled with PS3s and how much Sony has subsidized Quantic Dream?
Something is afoot.
I'm fed up of developers claiming it costs hundreds of millions & that there's very little profit to be made in the industry. I guarantee the 17 million they spent developing Heavy Rain is far more than over 90% of the other developers out there have ever spent on developing a game & Heavy Rain was never seen as a AAA title to the general public. So imagine how much a AAA would achieve.
The industry is absolutely full of bullshit, but this is one of the reasons I love David Cage, never any bullshit & a visionary!
Congrats to Sony/QD for knowing how to make reasonable investments.
Square has not made a GREAT game for the better part of a decade, sure it's had its lucky ones in KH:BBS, KH:3D; or even Theatrythm IMO, but that does not even come close to what they used to be capable of.
Tomb Raider, one of the better games Ive played in a few years definitely deserves all the sales it can get, but SE overshot their estimates and it makes them look ridiculous. Same goes for Deus Ex. I never thought we would get a worthy successor to that series but here we are after delivering a GREAT game, they put it down because it didnt sell a gazillion copies. WTF?
A. a nintendroid
B. an Xbot
C. a PC gaming master race
D. an E.T. atari hardcore fan
E. All of the above
Current console: None
Worst game: Heavy Rain
I just don't give a crap about your butthurt console war games. I am a superior being that enjoys the games I enjoy ('cept for 360 games cuz they suck lel)
@Fatgamer: Nope. My taste is superior. I taste 30 tastes on a bad day. Do you even taste?